Didn't know how much time had passed, but the scenery along the way grew more and more familiar. Finally, they turned into a small lane near No. 2 High School, and the iconic building of Liyang No. 2 High—the tallest teaching building—was not far ahead, with the school motto engraved on the rooftop.

"It's just up ahead, right?" The driver said as he turned, "The school looks pretty impressive. What grade are you in?"

"Second year of high school."

"Second year, huh? My son is in his third year, just one year older than you. Students these days have it tough, staying up late every night doing homework. If you ask me, studying is important, but you have to take care of your health too."

Ethan Young was exhausted from pretending to sleep, especially his neck, which was tilted against the seat back.

Henry Howard replied, seeing that the school was almost there, and wanted to take advantage of a certain someone's inattention to quietly let go and slip his hand away: "Yeah, it's pretty tiring. I hope your son does well on the college entrance—"

The words suddenly stopped short.

Because before Henry Howard could finish, and just as he loosened his grip a little, Ethan Young's seemingly limp fingers suddenly tightened, his fingertips pressing against the back of Henry Howard's hand, wrapping around it in return.

""

This time, Henry Howard was truly flustered.

The driver was still talking about his son: "He's lost a lot of weight, it really makes my heart ache. The three years of high school are tough, but you just have to get through it, everyone does, no one can escape, right? Once you get into college, things get easier. No matter how hard it is, it's worth it—"

None of the driver's rambling words were actually being listened to.

For the next few minutes, the two of them sat there, fingers intertwined, neither speaking nor looking at each other. Until the car stopped, and the driver waited for payment, then realized the two in the back weren't responding: "Isn't this No. 2 High? We're here."

Ethan Young was quite calm. He looked at Henry Howard, gently moved his fingers, and only then did Henry Howard snap out of it, his mind going "boom" as he hurriedly let go.

Ethan Young watched as Henry Howard fumbled for money in a panic, unable to even count it right, pulling out twenty yuan for a thirty-yuan fare.

The driver took the twenty, a bit puzzled: "Can you do math?"

Seeing this, Ethan Young lost all his previous awkwardness and couldn't help but curse, "Idiot."

"Thirty, right? Oh, thirty," Henry Howard rummaged for a while and finally found another ten, "Sorry, I misheard."

Ethan Young walked around to the front passenger seat, bent down and patted Wanda's face, and dragged Wanda out.

Wanda's feet felt like stepping on cotton as he swayed and asked, "Huh? Is it my turn to go on stage?"

"That's right, superstar," Ethan Young said, "It's your turn."

Wanda was delighted, looking at the few streetlights on the roadside that hadn't yet lit up, feeling like he was standing center stage: "What song do you want to hear?"

Ethan Young grabbed him by the collar and dragged him toward the school: "How about 'Serve the Country with Utmost Loyalty'?"

Wanda immediately wilted.

Ever since 'Serve the Country with Utmost Loyalty' was set as the wake-up alarm by Manager Jensen, it had become an indelible shadow in the heart of every boarding student.

Henry Howard finished paying and came over to help. The two of them supported Wanda on either side, wanting to say something countless times, but every time the words reached their lips, they realized nothing sounded right.

On top of that, they had to endure Wanda's intermittent drunken antics, like suddenly shouting on the stairs: "Friends in the audience, let me see your hands!"

If he couldn't see hands, he'd refuse to move from the stairwell.

"This is a staircase, not an audience. How come I never realized you were this annoying?" Henry Howard was really at his wit's end. "Don't make me use force."

Wanda clung to the stair railing, insisting on maintaining his superstar dignity.

Ethan Young minded his own business, sitting on the stairs to watch the show.

Then he watched as Henry Howard stepped back a few steps and waved his hands a few times, satisfying Wanda's demand.

Wanda happily waved back: "My fan friend."

Ethan Young covered half his face with one hand, lowering his head to laugh: "So this is what you meant by using force?"

"And you still laugh."

Henry Howard reminded him again: "Don't tell anyone, I have a reputation to keep."

Classes would start tomorrow, so everyone was basically returning to school from noon onwards. The people in Wanda's dorm were all there. When they sent the "superstar" back, Ethan Young leaned against the door and said two words: "Take care."

At first, the two roommates didn't know what "take care" meant, until Wanda started dancing on the bed: "Damn, how much did he drink?"

"Hey, help look after him," Henry Howard said, "If you really can't stand it, just knock him out with a stick."

Leaving Wanda's dorm, the two of them headed to the third floor.

That suffocating atmosphere from before returned.

Ethan Young suddenly remembered, probably back in eighth grade, Ray Jones was chasing his crush. He heard the girl liked talented guys, so he learned guitar and even wrote songs himself, carrying a beat-up guitar around the neighborhood singing: "Hey baby, you're that rose with thorns—"

Every time he practiced, he’d get plenty of "gifts" from the people of Heishui Street—pots, pans, even bricks.

Only Belle would still cheer him on: "Bro, it's actually not bad, really, believe in yourself."

"Really? Is it really not bad?"

Ray Jones's wounded heart clearly needed more comfort, so he turned to Ethan Young. Ethan Young took out the earplugs from his ears and mercilessly asked, "Are you done singing?"

Faced with Ethan Young's ruthlessly outrageous words, Ray Jones hugged his guitar and said gloomily, "Boss Xie, you've never liked anyone, you don't understand love at all."

Ethan Young had always been indifferent when it came to feelings.

But not expressing it didn't mean he didn't understand.

He didn't like to drag things out. If there was something to say, he'd say it directly to avoid trouble.

There were people who had crushes on him but didn't dare confess, yet made it so obvious that everyone knew, as if something really was going on. Even Big Ray came over waggling his eyebrows: "Heard that so-and-so, you know, you two, did you ever—"

The next day, Ethan Young went straight to the person and said just two sentences.

One: Do you like me?

One: Sorry, I don't like you.

Henry Howard was also a bit of trouble, and the kind that would drag him in too.

At this point, there was no way to keep pretending.

Ethan Young's thinking was simple: say what you mean, what you want, what you plan to do.

When they reached the dorm door, Henry Howard's mind was still exploding like fireworks, just like when he couldn't even count thirty yuan earlier. By the time he realized, he'd already opened the door, walked in, and then closed the dorm door behind him.

Ethan Young watched this idiot go through the whole process of entering the dorm: ""

Is there something wrong with this guy's brain?

Ethan Young walked over, planning to knock. Before he could, the door opened again.

Henry Howard stood at the door: "I—"

Ethan Young interrupted: "Are you drunk?"

"No," Henry Howard was a bit dazed, but quickly realized what he meant and paused, then asked back, "Then are you drunk?"

Ethan Young said, "Idiot, what do you think?"

Not drunk.

It wasn't because of the alcohol.

And it wasn't a momentary impulse.

"Weren't you calling me Bro Henry before? How come I'm an idiot again?"

"You are an idiot."

""

In the hallway, there was the sound of suitcase wheels rolling by, and a few people came down from upstairs, laughing and joking.

The two of them childishly called each other "idiot" a few more times, then Ethan Young stood in the midst of the noise and softly said, "Henry Howard, you were the one who started this."

You were the one who started this.

Brought all this noise into his life.

Insisted on breaking through all his defenses.

As soon as Ethan Young finished speaking, Henry Howard grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the dorm, Ethan Young's back hitting the door, which hurt a little: "Damn, what's wrong with you?"

The two of them were very close, Henry Howard's hand braced by Ethan Young's ear. He couldn't hold it in anymore, and even if he got beaten up for saying it, he was willing.

"I've never liked anyone before."

"The one in front of me, this little guy called Ethan Young, is the first."

Henry Howard didn't know how to say it. He didn't have any experience confessing. In Sean Parker's words, he was emotionally handicapped. After a pause, he continued, "Even though this little guy has a bad temper and hits people at the drop of a hat, I still really like him."

""

"I like him very seriously. Just seeing him makes me happy. I want to date him. I like him like crazy."

After Henry Howard finished, he asked, "Did that little guy with the bad temper hear me?"

The little guy with the bad temper really wanted to hit someone right now.

Who talks like this?

Is this a scene begging for a beating?

"I've never liked anyone before either."